NOW Hear This

NOW Hear This: December 1, 2023 Newsletter

Message from National NOW President Christian F. Nunes

 

Greetings Feminists,

 

As December begins and the year nears its close, this month’s theme centers around one of NOW’s core issues: reproductive rights and justice. To kick off this month, I’d like to zero in on what reproductive justice looks like, which, despite what the name suggests, is distinct from reproductive rights.   

 

The movement for reproductive justice began among coalitions of women of color activists and their allies as a way to move beyond a singular focus on abortion and connect reproductive rights to other issues such as economic justice, education, and racial justice, as they are all interconnected. Above all, reproductive justice needs to be approached with an intersectional lens. Otherwise, the layers of oppression that impact women of color, LGBTQ+ women, women with disabilities, and so many more will continue to hinder true freedom and autonomy.   

 

Fighting for reproductive rights has always been central to NOW’s mission, and I am so proud of what our predecessors have accomplished. As we look to the future and the beginning of another year, let’s focus on integrating a distinct intersectional lens into our continued conversations on pushing for reproductive rights so that we can achieve reproductive justice. 

 

In solidarity, 

Christian 

 

 

What’s At Stake in 2024?

What Could We Lose in 2024?

What Can You Do?

VOTE!

2023 Scholarship Winners

Contra Costa NOW is pleased to announce the winners of its third annual university scholarships.  The scholarships, for $1000 each, were earmarked for two women of color based on their academic and social-activism accomplishments.

 

Manahil Syeda, 17, is currently a student at Diablo Valley College with a GPA of 3.95, and will be attending UC Berkeley in the fall.  Among her notable activities are developing a curriculum on coding for her fellow students, excelling as a member of the debate and speech team, advocating for students with disabilities, organizing volunteer opportunities for students, and helping young Muslim women, including Afghan refugees, to acclimate to their new environment, all while maintaining a rigorous academic schedule.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Georgina Prado, 31, is attending Contra Costa College with a GPA of 3.4, is currently working as an Emergency Room technician, and plans to become a nurse.  She is also a member of the Emergency Room Safety Committee, where she seeks to improve patient and staff safety standards. She has served as a volunteer with the West Contra Costa Youth Soccer League and a Community Mural Painting project.  In addition to being an ER technician and a student, she is the mother of a young son.

 

NOW On The Record

Juneteenth as a Commemoration and Celebration 

June 15, 2023

WASHINGTON, D.C. – – As the Fourth of July approaches, I urge NOW members to remember that “liberty and justice for all” did not apply to everyone until much later.  June 19th marks the day when federal troops marched into Galveston, Tex. in 1865 to take control and make certain that all enslaved people were freed – two and a half full years after the Emancipation Proclamation. Juneteenth has had many names over the years: Emancipation Day, Liberation Day, Freedom Day but it wasn’t until 2021 when the day was finally recognized as a federal holiday.  

Juneteenth serves as a day to remember the past, acknowledge the present, and fight for the future. The legacy of slavery persists in both overt and subtle forms with systemic racism being intricately entangled in this country’s criminal justice, education, housing, and healthcare systems in addition to other vital aspects of life. Now more than ever, it is important that in commemorating those that came before us, we do not shy away from the fact that racial injustice is not a relic of the past. Instead, we must actively combat it in its many forms everyday. Attempts to ban Black history and books that educate people on the United States’ dark past must continue to be blocked at every turn as they are constant reminders that the fight continues in the midst of opposition.   

While it is necessary to reckon with the struggles, we cannot be defined by it. We must also celebrate Black resilience and resistance in the face of continued adversity and discrimination. NOW is committed to fighting racial injustice, and we rededicate ourselves to dismantling systems of oppression that exclude and restrict rather than include and protect. I encourage you to join us as we work for equality for all.

The National Organization for Women (NOW) is the nation’s leading membership-based advocacy group dedicated to defending women’s rights, advancing equality and combating injustice in all aspects of social, political and economic life. Through educating, mobilizing, and convening a vast network of grassroots activists across the country, NOW advocates for national, state and local policies that promote an anti-racist and intersectional feminist agenda. Since its founding in 1966, NOW has been on the frontlines of nearly every major advancement for women’s rights and continues to champion progressive values today. More about NOW’s efforts and resources is available at NOW.org.

In solidarity,
Christian F. Nunes
President

NOW On The Record

Over-the-Counter Contraception is a Necessity 

May 11, 2023

WASHINGTON, D.C. – – In a historic move, an FDA advisory committee of outside experts unanimously voted to approve nonprescriptive contraception for over-the-counter (OTC) use. Sixty-three years since the FDA first approved hormonal birth control medication, this no-prescription birth control pill can vastly expand reproductive justice for all women. 

Nonprescription, over-the-counter contraceptives are safe and have been available in more than 100 countries for years. Once formally approved by the FDA, this decision will provide a critical lifeline to marginalized women living in rural areas, on reservations, and in poverty-impacted communities. With increasing attacks on our reproductive freedoms, this news could not have come at a more critical moment. More than ever, women need better access to resources that empower them to take control of their reproductive decisions moving forward.

The National Organization for Women (NOW) is the nation’s leading membership-based advocacy group dedicated to defending women’s rights, advancing equality and combating injustice in all aspects of social, political and economic life. Through educating, mobilizing, and convening a vast network of grassroots activists across the country, NOW advocates for national, state and local policies that promote an anti-racist and intersectional feminist agenda. Since its founding in 1966, NOW has been on the frontlines of nearly every major advancement for women’s rights and continues to champion progressive values today. More about NOW’s efforts and resources is available at NOW.org.

In solidarity,
Christian F. Nunes
President

Medication Abortion Access Threatened by Texas Judge – NOW led the Effort to Bring Medication Abortion to the U.S. – Help Us Fight This

THE ISSUE

In less than two weeks, there could well be no access to one of the safest methods of abortion available, medication abortion, now used in a majority of abortions in the U.S.  – and widely used around the world. An anti-abortion organization, Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine, filed a lawsuit in November demanding that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) withdraw their approval of medication abortion. The judge has set a briefing deadline for February 24th.

See link below for full details.

Medication Abortion Access Threatened by Texas Judge – NOW led the Effort to Bring Medication Abortion to the U.S. – Help Us Fight This 

Photos for ROE #BansOffOurBodies March at the State Capitol

 

 

 

This Is What Democracy Looks Like

We are at a transformational shift to a new era of gender equality in the United States, with feminist women holding some of the most consequential levers of power. 

Kamala Harris, a Black woman of South Asian descent, is the first woman vice president; for the first time in U.S. history, President Joe Biden has appointed equal numbers of women (now at 48%) to the Cabinet; and the House of Representatives is led by a feminist woman, Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and feminists chair some of the most powerful committees including Rep. Maxine Waters of the House Financial Services Committee, Rep. Rosa DeLauro of the Appropriations Committee and Rep. Carolyn Maloney of the Oversight and Reform Committee. 

There’s no denying that 2021 is going to be an exciting, impactful and critically important year in the long struggle for gender equality.

We Are Heartbroken

NOW Mourns the Loss of Feminist Icon Ruth Bader Ginsburg

WASHINGTON, D.C. – There aren’t sufficient words to describe the depth of sorrow women are feeling at the passing of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. We are shattered.  We are broken.  We feel that we have lost more than a dear and admired friend. Our country has lost a feminist champion 

Ruth Bader Ginsburg was not only a historic Supreme Court Justice, but also a political and cultural icon for the ages, and a feminist legend. She fought for and protected women’s rights every single day.  

NOW recognizes all that she contributed to women and girls, to America, to our world, in terms of equality and possibilitiesNOW’s work is an extension of amazing leaders, amazing women, amazing sheroes, like Ruth Bader Ginsburg. That she did her work in the face of sexism throughout her life, and while battling cancer in the last chapters of her life, speaks to the power of showing up, of enduring, of advocating no matter what. 

Justice Ginsburg’s spirit, her soul, and her power, will be with us forever. 

Supreme Court Upholds Abortion Rights In Louisiana – But We’ve Still Got Work To Do

Statement by National NOW President Toni Van Pelt

June 29, 2020

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Supreme Court’s decision today in June Medical Services v. Russo struck down a Louisiana law imposing targeted restrictions on abortion providers (TRAP laws) that the Court had previously found unconstitutional in Texas. TRAP laws are not designed to protect women’s health, but rather to expand the power of patriarchal church leaders and conservative Republicans and to dictate women’s most personal health decisions.

The court also declined to rule on third-party standing which means that abortion providers can continue to challenge law that restrict access on behalf of their patients which is a crucial win for abortion activists. The case was a challenge to a Louisiana law requiring abortion providers to have admitting privileges at a nearby hospital.

As Justice Stephen Breyer noted in his majority opinion, this case was “almost word-for-word identical” to the law at issue in the Texas case, Whole Woman’s Health v. Hellerstadt, from 2016. In that case, the crucial fifth vote was cast by Justice Kennedy—but his replacement, Justice Brett Kavanaugh, voted to keep the restrictions on the books.

Chief Justice John Roberts voted with the majority in this case, but only because he agreed with Breyer that the issues had already been decided by the Court. He reiterated his opposition to the arguments made by the majority in Whole Woman’s Health v. Hellerstadt. He doesn’t agree with Justice Breyer that the Texas and Louisiana laws “will continue to make it impossible for abortion providers to obtain conforming privileges for reasons that have nothing to do with the State’s asserted interests in promoting women’s health and safety.”

This means that with John Roberts, Brett Kavanaugh and Neil Gorsuch on the Court, access to abortion care is still on the brink of repeal. NOW applauds today’s legal victory, but we have no illusions about the challenges women still face in defending their reproductive rights from activist judges and extremist politicians.

Today we celebrate, but tomorrow we march—and in November, we vote.

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